1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to toys and, more particularly, to apparatus for suspending a hard object within a soft bodied toy.
2. History of the Prior Art
Historically, toys which represent living creatures have been divided into two classes, hard bodied and soft bodied toys. Soft bodied toys may be easily designed to represent animals because the various plush materials available provide an easy way to represent animal coats. Plush toys provide a much more realistic appearance for animals than do hard bodied toys. Hard bodied toys, on the other hand, provide the support necessary for mechanical mechanisms which may be made to carry out various of the functions normally (or abnormally) performed by the creatures represented. Thus, a hard bodied toy may be easily provided with a mechanism for producing sound so that the toy may appear to speak or make animal noises. This ability to provide animal functions within a hard bodied toy also makes the toy seem more realistic.
In an attempt to make toys even more realistic, attempts have been made to combine these two types of toys. In general, hard bodied toys have been given outer skins of plush material to stimulate the skin of the animal. However, the toy remains a hard bodied toy, and does not have the soft pillowy feel of a soft bodied toy. Consequently, it is difficult to make these toys appeal to very small children who apparently realize that the toy is an unfamiliar mechanism rather than the cuddly animal it attempts to represent. When attempts have been made to suspend solid mechanisms within a soft bodied toy, the hard mechanism has a tendency to find its way to lie just below the surface of the soft material so that it is very apparent that a mechanism resides inside.